


Bad Day At The Beach

by Basmathgirl



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Episode AU: s04e13 Journey's End, F/M, H/C bingo, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Episode AU: s04e13 Journey's End, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 08:11:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8005213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Basmathgirl/pseuds/Basmathgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set during the end of JE, life for the Duplicate Doctor instantly stopped going to plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bad Day At The Beach

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** I have a little collection of inherited bandages, but that’s as far as my ownership goes.  
>  **A/N:** written for the [hc_bingo](http://hc-bingo.livejournal.com/) challenge prompt “hospital stay”  
>  **A/N2:** I might change the title if/when I continue this

As soon as the TARDIS faded away from their sight and Rose had rushed towards it in some vain attempt to get back, the bombardment had started. 

Huge mortars hit the sand, sending it flying in all directions. A missile closely followed by another, buzzed through the air and then landed on the outcrop of rocks that edged the bay. The noise was unbelievable, but it was the shock waves from the blasts that caused the most damage.

Somebody had been waiting for them to appear on the beach; that much was obvious. The newly formed duplicate Doctor and possible boyfriend of Rose Tyler found himself being thrown sideways towards the sea and away from Jackie and Rose. 

He couldn’t tell where they were in the muck and dust that was thrown up. It was as if a fog bank had rolled in to muffle the world. Perhaps they had been lucky enough to escape the shells and it was only him that was injured? 

All that he knew was that he was soaking wet, freezing cold, the taste of blood was in his mouth, and there was an intense pain in his head that clawed throughout him and devoured every thought. 

Mercifully, blackness soon took him away as he rested his head against the shingle beneath his cheek. He gained a moment’s peace as he sunk down into the beckoning darkness as he let the lapping waves cover his legs.

~o0o~

For what seemed an eternity later, he woke up; but in equal blackness, unable to see. But fortunately he was no longer in intense pain. Whatever damage had been done to his body was being deadened by blissful medication. Thankfully it was medication that was able to work on his half human non-Time Lord body.

Judging by the sounds of scuffling about, the plastic feel of the mattress beneath him and the odd smell of disinfectant that lingered in the air, he was in a hospital. Which one, and in which country, would soon be evident to his senses. So far the conversation snippets seemed to be in English. That was encouraging. Sort of.

He would not allow himself the hope that it was the translation circuits of the TARDIS that provided the recognisable words that filtered through the general hubbub. 

Suddenly a hand touched his arm and he almost jumped out of his skin. 

“Ah, you’re awake,” a soft female voice with an Irish lilt declared. 

He almost wanted to weep with relief. This meant he might not be far from home, rather than stuck hundreds of miles away from the place he would have to now call home. A terrible thought struck him as his memory started to seep back. “Rose…?” he rasped out.

“What’s that, m’darling? Don’t you try and talk yet, and I’ll go and see if the doctor is about.” 

It was the same voice trying to reassure him, while that someone then tucked in his bed sheet more tightly around him before he felt the edge of a glass being pressed against his lower lip. 

“Can you manage a sip of water, my love?”

Inevitably he didn’t. It dribbled all down the front of him, leaving an accusing trail on his chest.

“Sorry,” he tried to say.

“Never mind. I’ll soon have you cleaned up. Let’s try again with a straw, shall we?” she suggested.

Obediently opening his mouth, he soon felt the tip of a bendy straw touch his tongue, and he hurriedly took a couple of sips of some deliciously cool water. The effort exhausted him, and he fell back against his pillows in relief.

“Now you have a nice sleep and the doctor’ll come talk to you when you’re ready,” she soothed him, adding in a brief tender touch to his hand. “In next to no time we’ll have you all fixed up and you’ll feel grand again.”

Fixed up? What on earth were his injuries, and why couldn’t he decipher what they were despite the painkillers being pumped into his forearm? They hadn’t even mentioned Rose and Jackie. Did this mean the unthinkable had happened? 

Soon the questions buzzing around in his head filtered away, deadening the heartbreak that threatened to tear his mind apart. All he wanted was to be somewhere else.

There was a blinding flash of golden light that burst out from the back of his head, leaving absolutely nothing in its wake.

Where he was didn’t matter anymore. The puzzle to solve when he next woke up was: “who was he?” Every memory had gone.


End file.
